C++ HTTP Server

This project is a simple HTTP/1.1 server written in C++. The goal is to implement a fully-functional HTTP server that can handle multiple client connections, parse HTTP requests, and serve responses accordingly.

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

• C++ Compiler (g++ or clang++)
• CMake (for building the project)
• VCPKG (for dependency management, if needed)

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/frustratedProton/http-server
   cd http-server
   

2. Build the project using the provided runner.sh script. This will set up everything locally for you:

   ./runner.sh

   This script will:

   • Run cmake to configure the project.
   • Build the project using cmake --build.
   • Ensure that the necessary dependencies are correctly managed.

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How to Run

1. Once built, run the server locally (optionally specifying a files directory):

   ./runner.sh --directory /absolute/path/to/files

2. The server listens on port 8080 by default.

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Supported Endpoints

GET /echo/{string}

Responds with the text following /echo/ in the path. If the request includes Accept-Encoding: gzip, the response will be gzip-compressed.

Example (plain text):

curl http://localhost:8080/echo/hello

Response:

hello

Example (gzip):

curl -v -H "Accept-Encoding: gzip" http://localhost:8080/echo/hello --output -

Response headers:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Encoding: gzip
Content-Length: 23

Use --compressed to see decompressed output:

curl --compressed http://localhost:8080/echo/hello

Output:

hello

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GET /user-agent

Responds with the value of the User-Agent header sent by the client.

Example:

curl -i http://localhost:8080/user-agent

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GET /files/{filename}

Returns the contents of the file {filename} located in the specified directory.

Example:

curl http://localhost:8080/files/example.txt

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POST /files/{filename}

Creates or overwrites a file named {filename} in the files directory with the request body.

• The request must include:

  • Content-Type: application/octet-stream
  • Content-Length header specifying the body size.
  • The request body containing the file contents.

Example:

curl -v -X POST http://localhost:8080/files/myfile.txt \
     -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
     --data "This is the file content."

Response:

HTTP/1.1 201 Created

The file will be saved as /absolute/path/to/files/myfile.txt.

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Additional Resources

• HTTP Request Syntax
• Learn More About HTTP
• Learn About HTTP Response
• Learn About Content-Encoding header